Personal Branding Short Course
Course description
Personal branding, once the remit of the Kardashians and Beckhams, has grown to become an essential aspect of every successful career. With the growing importance of social media presence, the freelance workforce and the gig economy, a strong personal branding has become an imperative for almost any ambitious future.
What is personal branding? Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, famously said: your brand is what people say about you when you have left the room. Personal branding uses all kinds of design and marketing disciplines, techniques and tools for creation, consistent growth and management of a curated self-image in the minds of dedicated audience- not only your skills and experiences, but what you stand for, your personal vision, authentic voice and what differentiates you from other professionals.
This personal branding course aims to not only investigate theoretical aspects of self-presentation and self-promotion but will also provide practical advice on how to create a strong and authentic brand identity, and how to build a personal branding strategy, to take control, manage and optimise your online presence and branding for career success.
Course outcomes
By the end of this short course you will:
- Define your public audience, the arena in which you operate, and your "competitors"
- Have created a clear value proposition: what is your offering? How is it unique?
- Have identified your personal brands core values, and purpose
- Have defined your brands personality, and your unique personal brand DNA
- Identify your goals and creating a vision for your future, and implementing it
- Have written your personal brand statement
- Have found/invented a personal brand name (If required) and/or a compelling slogan
- Have designed a logo, if required
- Establish a unique Look and Feel
- Defining colours, typography, layout and imagery style, etc.
- Coherently across all your communication channels: social media, website, blog
- Discover your unique voice, and tone of voice. Curate your messages and storytelling to promote your personal brand
- Optimise your (social media) profiles
- Learn basics of how to market yourself/your brand on social media
- On main platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest (SnapChat)
- On personal website or blog
- Have ideas to generate effective content about you and your work
- Have ideas how to maintain an authentic and bonding conversation to keep your audience engaged
Who should take this personal branding course?
Anyone interested in branding themselves or their (small, personal) business: design (and non-design) students, (BA, Bsc and MA, Msc) graduates, marketing junior level professionals, designers junior level, business owners, start-ups.
Level: Beginners
Entry requirements
A creative and open mind. Basic knowledge of Mac and Adobe CC software: especially Adobe Illustrator (also Photoshop and InDesign) would be very useful, but is not absolutely essential (as the basic operative functions will be taught in-class, and one-to-one if required). It is recommended that students bring in their own laptops and sign up for the Adobe CC free trial as access to digital media suites may not be guaranteed.
Clear, easy to understand lessons:
- Our tutors will explain things in easy to understand, accessible English. If they need to use any special terminology they will make sure they explain what they mean.
- New methods will be shown to students through live demonstrations, in a way that's crystal clear and easy to understand.
Experience life on campus
- Network and share ideas with students from across the globe
- Access the technology and materials relevant to your discipline
- Shop in our college shops for any materials you might need
- Ask questions of your tutor in real time
- Receive feedback and critique on your assignments
- Experience the many sights of London on your down time
A certificate of completion:
- You've put the work in so we want to make sure you have something to show for it!
- As long as you attend a minimum of 80% of your classes, we will provide you with a certificate of attendance.
- We always recommend you attend all of the classes so that you get the most out of the experience!
- Certificates are great to compliment your cv.
Please note: This course is for students aged 18 and older.
Booking:
Your course place is confirmed once you have booked online using a credit or debit card. There is no deadline for booking. Places are offered on a first come, first served basis, and all courses have a maximum number of students. We suggest you book early to avoid disappointment.
Available dates
Make an enquiry or call us on 0207 514 7015.
Details
The course will combine a series of short lectures, mini-workshops, and group exercises, alongside the running of one creative brief taken through all design stages. All taking place in a supportive environment with tutor/peer feedback.
- Basics of branding & brand identity
- What is personal branding?
- Planning a personal branding strategy
- Contextual research
- Defining your specific audience
- Determine your business area, competitors and marketplace
- Defining yourself:
- Defining your overall goals and aspirations.
- Determine your self-brand attributes, your values (beliefs)
- Identify your uniqueness and strength(s)
- Defining your personal brand positioning (statement)
- Brand identity creation:
- Brand naming (if different to your own name)
- Logo creation (if required)
- Basic elements: your own colour palette and typeface(s)
- Graphic branding: imagery, photographic and/or illustrative style
- Verbal branding:
- Write compelling messages and authentic ‘storytelling’
- If required, a strong slogan (and/or hashtag)
- Creating engaging content online
- Social media branding, optimization of your personal brand on all main platforms
- Basics of social media marketing practice, on main social media platforms
- Managing your personal brand and personal brand assets
- Fostering a bonding relationship with your audience
Materials
Please bring the following with you to the first session:
- Pen
- Pencil
- Rubber
- Sketchbook or notebook
- USB stick.
- Laptop with drawing software (preferably Adobe CC) is very useful and recommended for progressing own project off-site, but it is recommended you bring your own laptop and sign up for the Adobe CC free trial as access to digital media suites is not guaranteed
IMPORTANT - Adobe ID Login for Short Course Students
Students will need to create an account with Adobe (unless you already have one) in order to access the Adobe suite at the college – instructions are included below. You will need to use a personal email address to create this. If you already have an account with Adobe, please make sure you bring your login details with you on the first day of the course.
Please note:
- The software will only be accessible when logged into a UAL networked computer
- The same account can be used outside of the University, but software will only be accessible through a personal paid subscription that students will need to set up independently
- You can still create an account on the day but doing this beforehand will save time and avoid delays to the start of the class.
- If you already have an Adobe ID/ subscription you can use this on your short course rather than setting up a new account.
- During this course you may be using Adobe Photoshop. If you do not already have Photoshop, you can sign up for a free 7 day trial of Adobe Creative Cloud. Please note a credit card is required to register for the free trial. The subscription must be cancelled on the date provided by Adobe if you do not wish to continue onto a paid account.
To create an account students will need to:
- Go to Adobe Sign in page.
- Select ‘Create an account’
- Enter your details and select ‘Create account’
Meet the Tutor:
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